In last week’s post, “What’s the Difference between Feedback and Feedforward”, I noted that discussions that are mostly past focussed feel more like an interrogation that creates defensiveness. On the other hand, discussions that are mostly future focussed feel like a supportive coaching discussion that emphasises problem solving and creates opportunities. Consequently, in many situations you face day-to-day, feedforward makes much more sense than feedback.
Monthly Archives: May 2010
Five Reasons to Feedforward
Posted in Giving Feedback Tagged Feedback, Feedforward, Frontline Leadership, Frontline Management 1 Comment
What’s the Difference between Feedback and Feedforward?
We know what feedback is, even if we frequently don’t like receiving it. And we don’t like receiving it for good reason. Imagine a time in the past when you held a job in another organisation. The ‘phone rings and when you pick it up your boss is on the line. He says something like, “I want to see you in my office. Got some feedback for you.” What would you be expecting to hear about?
Back to the Future
The ability for senior leaders to promote a compelling vision, and for frontline leaders to consistently remind people how their work contributes to the mission, vision and values of the organisation, is critical. But it is only part of leadership.